Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of drilling and processing of wells. More particularly, present embodiments relate to a system and method for extracting a tubular during a drilling process, a casing process, or another type of well processing operation.
In conventional oil and gas operations, a well is typically drilled to a desired depth with a drill string, which includes drill pipe and a drilling bottom hole assembly. During a drilling process, the drill string may be turned by a top drive, which uses one or more motors to turn a quill coupled to the upper tubular of the drill string. Occasionally, the bottom hole assembly may become stuck in a formation, especially if the drill string has remained stationary or mud has not been circulated through the well bore for a length of time. In addition, pressure differences between the drill string and the drilling formation may lead to an outer wall of the drill string pushing out against the well bore wall, thereby causing the drill string to become stuck in the well bore.
Extracting a stuck drill string typically involves delivering energy to the stuck point in either a discrete or continuous fashion. For the case of discrete energy delivery, the use of surface or down-hole jars is commonplace whereby energy is stored in the form of spring compression or pneumatic pressure and then released in a sudden fashion by the movement of a sliding mass coming to a sudden stop against a shoulder. For the case of continuous delivery of energy from the surface, devices exist capable of oscillating the drill string along its axis until the drill string becomes dislodged from the well bore. Such oscillating motion may also be beneficial during normal drilling operations in order to prevent the drill string from becoming stuck altogether. In traditional operations, oscillating motion may be induced on the drill string at the surface through a resonant vibrator, which applies a vertical oscillating force to the top of the drill string, wherein the force is generated by weights shifted with power from an auxiliary power source. In order to isolate this force from the top drive, the top drive is either removed from the mast or an isolation device is installed between the vibrator and the top drive.